MLB Pipeline awards deserving Yankees prospect with 'fastest riser' honor

He's become the team's top pitching prospect in one year's time.

Adam Weinrib

New York Yankees v Pittsburgh Pirates / Justin K. Aller/GettyImages

Last June, only the true seamheads knew much of anything about Yankees sixth-round draft pick Chase Hampton. If the Yankees were targeting a pitcher in the middle rounds, that probably meant he had high upside with an advanced changeup, but ... beyond that completely effort-free summation, Hampton was mostly a mystery.

One year later? Not only is he the system's fastest riser, but he was such an obvious pick for MLB Pipeline's "Team-by-Team Biggest Jump" that it almost wasn't even worth hinting at. You can just come out and reveal your Yankees pick. It's Hampton. Next.

Thursday marks the full, post-draft Pipeline overhaul of their team-by-team prospect lists, but the first domino to drop for the Yankees was, of course, the announcement that Hampton was rocketing up the list from his current preseason position at No. 24. No. 24!

What's he done since then? Oh, just strike out 77 men in 47 innings at High-A Hudson Valley, earn a promotion to Double-A Somerset in his first professional season, and maintain intriguing peripherals despite some poor homer luck and a rising walk problem (56 more Ks in 48.2 innings, covering up a 4.99 ERA/1.32 WHIP).

Updated prospect rankings coming TONIGHT.

For a sneak peek, here's the prospect who is making the biggest jump on each team's Top 30 list: https://t.co/xmhLjAd9dk pic.twitter.com/s5YprGP0T9
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 10, 2023

Yankees' top prospect Chase Hampton rising quickly in MLB Pipeline Top 30

How high will Hampton fly? He probably hasn't earned a promotion over fellow 2022 draftee Drew Thorpe, who set records at Hudson Valley with his plus-plus changeup. But if Thorpe and his advanced approached entered the year at No. 6, Hampton certainly deserves to be in Richard Fitts territory at No. 7. They might both surpass Trey Sweeney when the dust settles, too.

Hampton was recently joined by Thorpe in the Double-A Somerset rotation, and that's probably how 2024 will begin, too. The Texas Tech righty just turned 22 this month (Aug. 7), making him nearly one year younger than the mustachioed Cal Poly product.

For all those who doubted the Yankees' ability to regenerate top-tier arms after getting rid of Ken Waldichuk and Hayden Wesneski, though, these two have helped lead a revolution. Sounds like Hampton is getting rewarded for it with accolades, as his MLB ETA looms in late 2024/early 2025.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.